Microsoft recently announced Abolition of web browsers for many years, Internet Explorer and the newer product Microsoft Edge are preferred. Internet Explorer support will only last until June 15, 2022, so the rest of users will be able to find alternatives in a little over a year. Of course, most web users already have one. Internet Explorer’s ultimate demise was seen as a natural conclusion for those who watch web trends, but for those who are not up to date, the news can be an unwanted surprise. there are.

But most of the time the news isn’t a fuss, it’s a whisper, and it’s the final footnote to an iconic story spanning 25 years.

As a current expert in the IT industry, I will analyze some of the possible reasons for this decision and what you can learn from them.

Find the answer

Most people are used to the idea of ​​”Googling” something but not “Googling” something. How did Google become synonymous with web search? Despite its long and groundbreaking history, couldn’t Microsoft be synonymous with it?

The answer is market share. Managed by Google 92.24% of web searches – Over 3.5 billion requests per day. Microsoft’s own search engine Bing has only 2.29 percent.

It’s clear why users prefer Chrome, Google’s own web browser, to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which uses Bing as the default search engine. Users who prefer Google search (almost all users) can make Google the default search engine for Internet Explorer. However, it would be easier to install Chrome and use Google from there.

Success creates complacency. Complacency leads to failure

Microsoft hasn’t always been a bit of a gamer. When the web was still in its infancy, it was a market-leading pioneer. Before app stores, 5G and even PCs became widespread, there were large mainframe computers with “unfriendly” Unix-based operating systems in the 1970s.

These systems had minimal functionality with little regard for graphics or usability. Netscape, the original Unix web browser, was just as easy.

This is where Microsoft came in and focused on making “PCs” more personal. At the time of Internet Explorer’s introduction in 1995, Microsoft was firmly at the forefront of the digital world with its better design and more intuitive user interface.

But Benjamin E. Mays, Baptist minister and civil rights leader in the United States, said Famously warned“The tragedy of life is often in complacency, not failure.”

Incumbent Microsoft stopped developing Internet Explorer, moved elsewhere, and continued to improve Windows, but not the web browser. Since then, Internet Explorer has always lagged behind in introducing innovations like tabbed browsing and search bars. It became even more pointless and obsolete.

Compatibility issues

One of my biggest complaints about having spent much of my life as a web developer is the incompatibility of some web browsers. Spending hours refining a website can be exhausting and daunting. However, it does not work properly in some browsers.

This concern also spread to Microsoft’s in-house developers. In 2019 blog entry Titled “Dangers of Using Internet Explorer as Your Default Browser,” Microsoft’s Chris Jackson warned:

[…] In general, modern developers have not tested Internet Explorer. You test with the latest browsers.

The message was clear: web developers can’t take advantage of Internet Explorer, so websites that work well in other browsers may not work here – and the problem just keeps getting worse.

Microsoft lost interest in keeping Internet Explorer on track and turned to new browsers. Microsoft EdgeHowever, the horse may already be bolted on. The market is flooded with Chrome from Google, Safari from Apple, Firefox from Mozilla, and many open source browsers.

Call

Another important statistic about the decline in Internet Explorer is: In 2020 More than two thirds of all website visits It was through a mobile device.

We currently need a browser that can be synchronized across platforms. In the world of Apple and Android devices, the term “Windows Phone” sounds prehistoric. Windows Phone operating system support Ended in 2017Only seven years have passed since Microsoft launched the product line.

As a result, Internet Explorer, which has existed since the beginning of the Internet age (or at least since the Internet really became mainstream), lags behind in many ways.

Despite the success of Surface tablets, Microsoft was unable to gain a foothold in the smartphone market. Or the other way around. Internet Explorer’s awkwardness is why you won’t be using Windows Phone.

The bottom line, however, is that Internet Explorer simply lacks the versatility that web-savvy users need. And starting next year, even inexperienced users will no longer rely on it.

Instructor Vin Buoy, Southern Cross University

This article was reprinted from the following conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read original paper ..

Source Link Why Microsoft Internet Explorer has given up technology news for good, Firstpost